Vladimir Kozlov, Ukrainian wrestler
Oleg Aleksandrovich Prudius (Russian: Олег Александрович Прудиус; Ukrainian: Олег Олександрович Прудіус, Oleh Oleksandrovych Prudius; born April 27, 1969) better known by his ring name Vladimir Kozlov, is a Ukrainian-American former professional wrestler currently signed with Impact Wrestling as its Russian-language commentator. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he won the WWE Tag Team Championship once with Santino Marella. He is trained in freestyle wrestling, rugby, football, sambo, mambo,
kickboxing, judo, jujutsu, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts.Prudius signed a development contract with World Wrestling Entertainment in 2006 and was assigned to WWE’s developmental system, Deep South Wrestling. He would later be reassigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling, where he won the OVW Heavyweight Championship. He made his debut on SmackDown as Vladimir Kozlov on April 4, 2008. He was given a big push during his first few months on SmackDown, including a clean victory over The Undertaker. At Survivor Series 2008, Kozlov faced Triple H and Edge for the WWE Championship in a losing effort. At the end of 2008, he received the Slammy Award from WWE as the Breakout Star of the year. However, in the awards voting for the independent Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Kozlov was voted as the Most Overrated Wrestler of the year, and his match at Survivor Series match was voted as the Worst Match of the Year. In 2009, Kozlov was assigned to WWE's third brand, ECW, where he teamed with William Regal and Ezekiel Jackson. After the ECW brand was dissolved, he was assigned to Raw and started a tag team with Santino Marella, winning the WWE Tag Team Championships. Prudius left WWE in 2011.
Prudius has also worked as a stage and screen actor, notably having a small role in Spike Lee's 25th Hour., and a walk-on role in the second season of the HBO series The Wire. Prudius also had a role in Grindhouse, appearing in the "Werewolf Women of the SS" trailer; in addition to his credit under his real name and his WWE persona for the appearance as well as being a former Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) Heavyweight Champion, Prudius was the first Ukrainian to ever wrestle for the WWE.